Japanese marine park captures rare shark on film

[Freediver81]

TOKYO (Reuters) - A species of shark rarely seen alive because its natural habitat is 600 meters (2,000 ft) or more under the sea was captured on film by staff at a Japanese marine park this week.

The Awashima Marine Park in Shizuoka, south of Tokyo, was alerted by a fisherman at a nearby port on Sunday that he had spotted an odd-looking eel-like creature with a mouthful of needle-sharp teeth.

Marine park staff caught the 1.6 meter (5 ft) long creature, which they identified as a female frilled shark, sometimes referred to as a "living fossil" because it is a primitive species that has changed little since prehistoric times.

The shark appeared to be in poor condition when park staff moved it to a seawater pool where they filmed it swimming and opening its jaws.


"We believe moving pictures of a live specimen are extremely rare," said an official at the park. "They live between 600 and 1,000 meters under the water, which is deeper than humans can go."

"We think it may have come close to the surface because it was sick, or else it was weakened because it was in shallow waters," the official said.

The shark died a few hours after being caught.

Frilled sharks, which feed on other sharks and sea creatures, are sometimes caught in the nets of trawlers but are rarely seen alive.


There is a video of the shark on reuters web site!!!

 

[deep thinker]

I mite stand corrected but isnt this the second Japanese dicovery of strange marine animals in a short while. The first one was that dolphin with the extra fins that supposedly could have been legs if Im not mistaken. I must say though I find the shark more interesting than the dolphin. Pity it died though...

 

[wet]

They filmed the shark swimming, I note that if it was ill or dying, it may have swum differently than normal. Sick dolphins will sometimes swim only by paddling with their forelimbs while resting their flukes.
DDeden

 

[naiad]

I think it is genuine. The shark is probably in very poor condition, that is why it is swimming in an unusual posture. It can't stop for a rest because most sharks have to move forward all the time to force water through their gills. They can't use their mouth to pump water through the gills like most other fish.

Lucia